Linux Mint will not boot.

[Brian_G]

Hello, first post here so be gentle.
I'm not really a computer geek, although I know my way around, having built several desk top systems in the past.
I had a spare HP laptop which, in order to expand my knowledge, I decided to install Linux on.
I'm bewildered by the number of variations of Linux there are, but I settled on Linux Mint 64-bit.
I basically use it for web browsing and emailing and it's been fine for a few weeks.
However, I went to fire it up the other day and it won't boot.
When I power up I get a black screen with the following options:

*Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon 64-bit
Advanced options for Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon 64-bit
Memory test (memtest 86+)
Memory test (memtest 86+ serial console 115200)

The default is the top one and if I do nothing it appears to start to boot.
I then get a screenful of meaningless (to me) garbage, some of the words include Jump Stack, panic and mount block root, but most of it lines of numbers and letters.
At the bottom of this page is the line [end Kernel panic - not syncing:VFS: unable to mount root fs on unknown - block (0,0)
The only way I can shut the system down is with the power button which is obviously undesirable.
Each time I power the system I get the above.
I could re-install Linux but I cannot access the DVD drive.

Any suggestions as to my next step?

[kc1di]

Hello and Welcome to Linux Mint,
Couple of questions:
Is this an already installed system or running from live media? If live media USB or DVD?
If installed Did you do a recent upgrade/update?
Do you know which video card you have?
if you get to the grub screen click on advanced option and is there more than one kernel version list if so try the second one on the list see if it will boot.

[gittiest personITW]

Hi,
Not saying you should re-install straight away, but why can't you access your DVD drive?
Can you put a copy of Mint 19.1 on a USB drive if it comes to it?

[kato181]

.

The linux menu that appears seems to be a live menu, meaning that you either have a bootable dvd in the drive or a bootable usb still connected.
You could also check your bios settings to see if the boot order has not been modified.
good luck.

[deepakdeshp]

You can also test memory with memtest and disk with smartmontools.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Smartmontools

Also please verify the Mint iso you downloaded.

https://linuxmint.com/verify.php
Good luck

[Brian_G]

Hello and Welcome to Linux Mint,
Couple of questions:
Is this an already installed system or running from live media? If live media USB or DVD?
If installed Did you do a recent upgrade/update?
Do you know which video card you have?
if you get to the grub screen click on advanced option and is there more than one kernel version list if so try the second one on the list see if it will boot.

Hi, thanks for the reply.
The answers to your questions are as follows:

This is a fully installed system, running from the internal hard drive. It is the only OS installed, not dual booting.
The last time it booted (a couple of weeks ago) all the software was updated.
The graphics driver is an AMD Radeon R3.
I have no idea what the "grub screen" is or how to access it.

[Pierre]

can you now boot into 'Advanced Options for LinuxMint 18"
& which is the 2nd option on that Boot Menu & then select the 3rd option in that menu, as well ?
- - this should allow you to boot into another kernel, to see if that will work okay.

[Brian_G]

You can also test memory with memtest and disk with smartmontools.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Smartmontools

Also please verify the Mint iso you downloaded.

https://linuxmint.com/verify.php
Good luck

Hi,
Not saying you should re-install straight away, but why can't you access your DVD drive?
Can you put a copy of Mint 19.1 on a USB drive if it comes to it?

Hi, thanks for the reply.
I'm assuming I can't access the DVD drive because the system cannot boot.
If I put an install (iso) CD in the drive will it boot from that? I haven't tried this.
Yes, I can install a copy of Mint on a USB drive. Will it boot from that?
I know that in Windows there are commands to decide the boot device order, but since I cannot start the system will it boot from an alternative source and if so, how do I decide the boot order?

[Brian_G]

can you now boot into 'Advanced Options for LinuxMint 18"
& which is the 2nd option on that Boot Menu & then select the 3rd option in that menu, as well ?
- - this should allow you to boot into another kernel, to see if that will work okay.

Hi, thanks for the reply.
Whichever boot option I select from the options, I get the screenful of garbage, and the only way I can shutdown is to use the Power button.
If I select "Memtest" I get the Memtest screen, but it seems to be locked up and doesn't do anything. Again the only escape is to use the Power button.

[kato181]

Just read your post again....The spare laptop..is it x86(32bit) or 64bit?
If it's 32bit then you can't install a 64bit version on it, you will have to d/l and install the 32bit version of mint for it to install.

[Pierre]

since you've Not Tried to Boot from Disk - - that should work,
& as it would be independent of the Installed System.
- - then redo the Full Installation - again.
just reuse the existing partitions, as-is.

NB: when you've got an little more Linux experience:
- this is often an ideal time to redo the partition layout, but Not This Time .. ..

[Brian_G]

Just read your post again....The spare laptop..is it x86(32bit) or 64bit?
If it's 32bit then you can't install a 64bit version on it, you will have to d/l and install the 32bit version of mint for it to install.

Hi. Thanks for your interest.
The machine is HP355 G2 with an AMD processor.
It originally came with Windows 8.1 64-bit operating system.
If you'd read my post again, you would see that the Linux system has been working fine until a couple of weeks ago, when the boot problem arose, so I don't think it's a matter of 32bit or 64bit OS.

[Brian_G]

since you've Not Tried to Boot from Disk - - that should work,
& as it would be independent of the Installed System.
- - then redo the Full Installation - again.
just reuse the existing partitions, as-is.

NB: when you've got an little more Linux experience:
- this is often an ideal time to redo the partition layout, but Not This Time .. ..

As suggested, I've just downloaded Mint 19.1 onto a USB stick, and I will try booting from that.

I'm not really sure I need "more Linux experience" - I just want a simple system that just works.
To me, Linux is a system for geeks, who like to fiddle.

[kc1di]

did you try booting from the usb stick what was the result?
I would do a complete reinstall of the system and try again. something has messed up the boot sector.
if you get the live session up and running go to a teminal and type this command and post the output here.

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxzd

This will give us hardware info on your machine and help to diagnose what might have gone wrong.
Good luck.

[Pierre]

but for myself - - Linux is an system to be used - - so it's rarely tinkered with.

only a few extra programs, are ever installed, & never on the same Laptop ..
( I've got several Laptop's ) ( and a few Desktop's )

in your case, just accept the Installer's Default Settings & go with those,
& it should work out.

[Brian_G]

did you try booting from the usb stick what was the result?
I would do a complete reinstall of the system and try again. something has messed up the boot sector.
if you get the live session up and running go to a teminal and type this command and post the output here.

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxzd

This will give us hardware info on your machine and help to diagnose what might have gone wrong.
Good luck.

I'm sorry, but a these references to "a terminal" and "live sessions" are meaningless to me, and are one of the things that put me right off Linux.
It seems that you need to be a computer geek and speak a different language in order to operate Linux, which I do not find "user friendly."

I realised I was missing something.
I had assumed that, since I could not start the operating system I would not be able to access the boot options.
As the system powered up, but before I got to the message screen, there was a brief flash of a message that started "Press esc..." but it was on the screen so briefly I did not have a chance to read all of it.
I tried pressing "esc" and it took me into a boot menu, where I could choose either hard drive, usb or CD to boot from.
I downloaded Mint19.1 iso to a USB drive, selected "Boot from USB" as the startup but nothing happened, it would not boot, just sat there.
So then I tried burning a DVD of the Mint 19.1 iso, selected "boot from CD" and it worked.
I have downloaded and installed the new version of Linux Mint 19.1. updated everything, and all seems well.
However, I'm now virtually at the same place that I was a month ago, before the system crashed and refused to boot.
It does not address the problem of why it failed in the first place, so I'm now wondering if it might fail again.
I have had no clue as to what caused the system to stop booting in the first place and I'm concerned that it could happen again.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem might be and how I can prevent it from happening again?

[athi]

did you try booting from the usb stick what was the result?
I would do a complete reinstall of the system and try again. something has messed up the boot sector.
if you get the live session up and running go to a teminal and type this command and post the output here.

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxzd

This will give us hardware info on your machine and help to diagnose what might have gone wrong.
Good luck.

I'm sorry, but a these references to "a terminal" and "live sessions" are meaningless to me, and are one of the things that put me right off Linux.
It seems that you need to be a computer geek and speak a different language in order to operate Linux, which I do not find "user friendly."

Typically, you do not need to use Terminal for normal operation of Mint (just like Windows) and is usually more fault resistant than Windows. I gave my 6 year old cousin a Mint laptop a few years ago, and she can use it without problems (I used to have to reload Windows every other week on this same laptop). For analysis and troubleshooting, usage of Terminal is preferred since it can output required information with the least amount of effort. Knowing the proper terminology does help simplify communicating about complex processes. This is no different in MS Windows or Linux, but a normal Windows user just tend not to have to do this since you will be paying somebody to do the work for you and most of the time, the service would just restored/reload Windows and not correct the underlying issues. With Linux, we tends to takes care of these problems ourselves with help of forum like this one. Here is a link to how to use inxi -Fxzd https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/inxi.html (section2).

I realised I was missing something.
I had assumed that, since I could not start the operating system I would not be able to access the boot options.
As the system powered up, but before I got to the message screen, there was a brief flash of a message that started "Press esc..." but it was on the screen so briefly I did not have a chance to read all of it.
I tried pressing "esc" and it took me into a boot menu, where I could choose either hard drive, usb or CD to boot from.
I downloaded Mint19.1 iso to a USB drive, selected "Boot from USB" as the startup but nothing happened, it would not boot, just sat there.
So then I tried burning a DVD of the Mint 19.1 iso, selected "boot from CD" and it worked.
I have downloaded and installed the new version of Linux Mint 19.1. updated everything, and all seems well.
However, I'm now virtually at the same place that I was a month ago, before the system crashed and refused to boot.
It does not address the problem of why it failed in the first place, so I'm now wondering if it might fail again.
I have had no clue as to what caused the system to stop booting in the first place and I'm concerned that it could happen again.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem might be and how I can prevent it from happening again?

This is the reason that we need the output for inxi -Fxzd to help diagnose the issues that you are having. The more information we have the better that we can help you.

Edit: You need to burn Mint ISO to USB drive with a utility (just like you burn the ISO to DVD) to create a bootable USB drive. Rufus is a great Windows tool for this use.

[minticle]

Let me try and explain something that's not being said explicitly here: you need to look at the BIOS for the laptop in order to make it boot from a USB stick, CD/DVD, or go into the OS options on the hard drive. The BIOS does not need an operating system to run; it is written by your computer manufacturer. You can change the options in it using just the keyboard and screen, and tell it to boot to USB. You'd do it one time, when you install Linux, and then boot into the hard drive every time.

Pay attention the next time you hit the power button to start the machine--there is usually an option to change the startup sequence. You have to hit some button before the GRUB screen appears (do a Google Image search to find out what GRUB looks like; you may or may not be seeing it among your "garbage"). On one of my computers, the BIOS is accessed with "Del"; on another, with "Enter", and on a third, with F12. It's really different on every machine.

Once you get to the BIOS, there's going to be an option somewhere to determine the startup sequence. That's where you click around with your keyboard keys until you get the desired outcome, namely, boot to USB (or CD, whichever you have the installer on).

Linux does require some tinkering. I think of it as paying with my time and comfort. I would rather tinker a bit than deal with Windows or Mac OS, though, because once you climb even a little bit of the learning curve, you do gain quite a lot of freedom and control over your computer.

[Brian_G]

It seems these forums are no better than others when it comes to people replying without having read previous posts.

I previously said I had discovered the startup boot options menu, and that it did not work for a USB stick, but the boot from CD option DID work and I had reinstalled Mint from an iso DVD that I created with my main desktop (Windows) system.
I've only installed Linux on the laptop out of curiosity and use it for email, internet browsing and writing the occasional letter..
Linux is only of very limited use to me, since it does not support most of my software - mainly graphics and photo editing programs, which run fine under Windows on my desktop system.

Of the operating systems I have used, Linux Mint is the only one that has crashed to the extent it will not even start. Now I have reinstalled it I will see how well it continues to function in the future.

I'd like to thank every one for their replies, help and suggestions, even if they haven't taken the trouble to read and understand the previous posts.
I have now restored the system to the condition it was a month ago and I hope it will continue to function.
If it fails again I will just write it off to experience and in future stick with a mainstream OS.

[minticle]

Okay, well, good luck to you, Brian. From the content of your posts, it didn't look like you knew what BIOS was, but it seems that you are all sorted now.